Eddie Alvarez’s Injunction Against Bellator Denied, Lightweight Will Not Fight at UFC 159

According to court documents obtained and posted by
TheFightLawyerBlog.com, U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares today
reportedly denied the fighter’s application for an injunction
against the Bellator Fighting Championships that would allow him to
fight at the April 27 UFC event at the Prudential Center in Newark,
N.J.

The injunction was denied on the grounds that Alvarez failed to
satisfy his burden of showing both a reasonable probability of
success on the merits and that irreparable harm would result if the
relief sought was not given.

“In this case, there is no illegal restraint that Bellator is
seeking to impose on Alvarez, nor is Alvarez precluded from
competing professionally absent a grant of his application for a
preliminary injunction,” Linares wrote. “It is speculative to
suggest, as Alvarez does, that an inability to compete in the April
27 event will result in irreparable harm in the form of a lost
opportunity to obtain notoriety, endorsements, and a wider exposure
to viewers. Alvarez’s argument requires this Court to make
speculative assumptions about what might or might not happen as a
result of his participation in the April 27 event. Based on the
record before it, the Court cannot make such assumptions.”

Alvarez’s counsel reportedly argued Friday that Bellator could not
match the UFC’s pay-per-view pay structure offered to Alvarez, nor
would the fighter’s exposure on Spike TV match the exposure that
the lightweight would receive fighting under the UFC banner on Fox.
However, Judge Linares ultimately could not find cause to grant
Alvarez his injunction, and the litigation between the fighter and
promoter is expected to continue.

Alvarez, whose contract with Bellator expired this past October,
entered into negotiations with the Ultimate Fighting Championship
after Bellator waived its exclusive negotiating period with the
condition that Alvarez could elicit an offer exclusively from the
UFC. The former Bellator lightweight kingpin then fielded an
eight-fight offer from the Zuffa-owned promotion, which was
subsequently sent to Bellator officials. Bellator then had 14 days
to match terms of the UFC’s deal and offered Alvarez a new
contract.

Alvarez and his counsel did not believe the contract offer to be a
true match, however, and Alvarez made his intent known to sign with
the UFC. Bellator subsequently filed suit against Alvarez, alleging
breach of contract and tortious interference on the part of five
unnamed individuals. In response, Alvarez filed a countersuit,
seeking an injunction against Bellator so that he could compete at
UFC 159. Alvarez also sought a ruling that would allow him to
accept Zuffa’s eight-fight deal and compete for the promotion with
no interference moving forward.

Alvarez, 29, has long been regarded as one of world’s best
lightweights fighting outside the Zuffa umbrella. The Pennsylvanian
captured the Bellator Fighting Championships 155-pound belt in 2009
and successfully defended the strap in 2011 against Season 2
tournament winner Pat Curran.
However, Alvarez would relinquish the title in his next fight,
submitting to a fourth-round rear-naked choke from Michael
Chandler in a “Fight of the Year” nominee. The one-time Bodog
Fight welterweight titlist then returned to his winning ways last
year, avenging his 2008 submission defeat to Shinya Aoki
by knocking out the former Dream king before doing the same to
Season 4 finalist Patricky
“Pitbull” Freire in his final contracted fight with Bellator on
Oct. 12.